The British King who spoke no English / gameo.org The Hanoverian dynasty got its name from the city of Hanover, capital of Lower Saxony in Germany. In 1658 the grand-daughter of James I of England (and VI of Scotland), and daughter of Elizabeth of Bohemia, by name Sophia, married Ernst Augustus. He was the Duke of Brunswick-Luneburg, and became an Elector (Prince of the Holy Roman Empire with the right to elect the Emperor) of Germany in 1692. He took Hanover as his princely title and capital city. It was Sophia and Ernst’s son (born 1660) who became George I, the first of the House of Hanover to be King of England (actually Great Britain and Ireland). Hanover as a territory contained important towns like Göttingen and Hildersheim. The defence of these places was to become a serious factor in British foreign policy during the eighteenth century. So how was it that a full-blooded German ascended the throne of England?

The answer is because George’s mother Sophia and her issue were recognised as heirs to the throne by the Act of Settlement in 1701, which excluded the Roman Catholic Stuarts. George moved to England to become king in 1714 on the death of Queen Anne – herself a descendent of Catholic Mary Queen of Scots. George I did not speak English, did not like London, did not like British constitutionalism or the need to accept the limitations of Parliament; after being crowned he spent as much time as he could in Hanover, where he grudgingly agreed to be taught the English language. Throughout the rest of his life he spoke it with a heavy German accent. He reigned without the help of any queen, having divorced his wife Sophia Dorothea in 1694. The Hanoverians reigned in Britain from George I to Victoria, 1714 to 1901. George was succeeded by his son George II, who disliked and resented his father; however, he married very well with Caroline of Ansbach and accepted Walpole as his Prime Minister and adviser. Following family tradition he disliked his son Frederick Louis.

On the positive side he was the last British King to lead his troops in battle, at Dettingen in 1743, while supporting Empress Maria Theresa in the War of the Austrian Succession. His despised son Frederick was the father of George III, the third of the Hanoverian succession. This George was the first actually to be born in England! He was not a bad king at all but he suffered horribly from porphyria, a metabolic disease which causes mental disturbance, which is why most Englishmen thought their monarch was mad. The American colonies were lost during his reign, during one of the many Regencies required because of his mental state. In 1811 senility, deafness and blindness hastened the Regency of his son the profligate Prince of Wales (who invented Brighton). This nasty piece of work succeeded as George IV in 1820. He was responsible for the decline in power and prestige of the British monarchy in the early nineteenth century. He had many mistresses, one illegal wife, the Catholic Maria Fitzherbert and a reluctant wife Caroline of Brunswick whom he treated appallingly.

In 1830 he died and was succeeded by his brother William (‘Sailor King’) IV whose niece, thank God, was the future Queen Victoria. Her family name was that of her husband Prince Albert, but Britons did not take to the idea of a dynasty called Saxe-Coburg-Gotha so when her grandson George succeeded he was called Windsor instead. Share the post "The first Hanoverian King of Great Britain" The Baldwin Project: The Story of England by Samuel B. Harding THE FIRST HANOVERIAN KINGS [268] GEORGE I. was King of Great Britain for thirteen years, and his son, George II., was King for thirty-three. They were plain, commonplace persons, without much ability, and were more interested in Hanover than they were in England. But they had the good judgment to put in office ministers whom Parliament trusted, and then let them run the government. The ministers usually belonged to the Whig party, for it was to that party that the Hanoverians owed their throne.

The reigns of these first two Hanoverian Kings were mainly a time of peaceful development; but the period closed with a great war, from which England profited even more than it did from the time of peace. George I. could speak no English at all, so he did not attend the meetings of his ministers; and George II., though he could speak English brokenly, followed the same practice. In this way it became the established principle that the ministers, who made up the "Cabinet," and were responsible for carrying on the government, should meet and discuss their plans without the King being present. [269] It was at this time also that the practice arose of one minister being above the others. He was called the Prime Minister, and was the one chiefly responsible for carrying on the government. In this way the Cabinet became more united, and more independent of the King, though it continued to be dependent on Parliament. The first real Prime Minister was Sir Robert Walpole, who carried on the government for twenty-one years, under George I. and George II. Queen Caroline, the wife of George II., was a wise and tactful woman, and did much to smooth the rough places for Walpole.

His policy was, as he said, to "let sleeping dogs lie"; so he did everything to keep England at peace, both at home and abroad. Once when there was a war on the Continent, Walpole said to the Queen: Sir Robert Walpole "Madam, there were fifty thousand men slain in Europe this year, and not one of them was an Englishman." But, towards the end of his long administration, Walpole was obliged, against his will, to begin a small war with Spain. By the treaty of Utrecht, a limited right to trade with the Spanish colonies had been given to English merchants, and the Spaniards accused the English of abusing this right. The English, in turn, complained that their ships were stopped by the Spanish war vessels, and searched [270] for goods intended to be used in smuggling; and they also complained that English sailors were thrown into Spanish dungeons, and tried by the Spanish Inquisition as heretics. Finally, a Captain Jenkins set all England afire by his story that his ship had been stopped and searched by Spaniards; and that, when they found no evidence of wrong-doing, they angrily cut off his ear.

As proof of this story, he showed the ear, which he carried about with him wrapped up in cotton. When asked what his feelings were when he was in the hands of the Spaniards, Jenkins said: "I commended my soul to God, and my cause to my country." A Street in London About 1740 Walpole was forced either to go to war, or to resign as Prime Minister. He chose to go to war; but it was against his better judgment. [271] "They are ringing their bells now," he said, as London rejoiced at the news, "but they will soon be wringing their hands." Like every war in which England was engaged, in that century, this speedily grew into a war between England and France. Queen Maria Theresa had just succeeded to the throne of Austria, and Frederick the Great of Prussia took advantage of the opportunity to seize a part of the Austrian lands. In the bitter war between Austria and Prussia which followed, France took the side of Prussia. George II., as ruler of Hanover, was jealous of Prussia, and he persuaded the English Parliament to take the side of Austria, against Prussia, Spain, and France.

This War of the Austrian Succession, like that of the Spanish Succession, was fought wherever the two parties confronted one another—in Germany, in Italy, in the Netherlands, on the seas, in America, and in far-off India. The war in Europe usually went against the English and Austrians, for they had no general equal to Frederick the Great, and no Army like the one he commanded. The English fleets, however, gained some victories, and the English colonists in America captured some places from the French; but in India the English lost to the French most of their trading posts. As a part of this War of the Austrian Succession, there was a daring attempt to place the Pretender on the English throne. The French collected an army, on their coast, to aid "Prince Charlie," the eldest son of the Pretender, in invading England; but contrary winds prevented the army from crossing the Channel, and it disbanded. The next year (1745) "Prince Charlie" made his way to Scotland with only seven followers, determined to arouse the Jacobites [272] to rebellion.

The "Young Pretender," as the English called him, was young, handsome, brave, and polite, so that he won to his support a large following. He took Edinburgh, and then put the English to flight in a battle which lasted only a very sort time. The Jacobites went wild with delight. "We have a Prince," they said, "who can eat a dry crust, sleep on pease-straw, eat his dinner in four minutes, and win a battle in five." The Young Pretender resolved to make a dash into England, hoping that the people there would rise and proclaim his father as King. By hard marching, his little army got as far as Derby, within a hundred and thirty miles of the capital; and all London was thrown into a panic. But still there was no sign of an army from France, and the English Jacobites refused to risk their lives uselessly, by rising in rebellion. So the Prince was obliged to retreat to Scotland. The Young Pretender Two more battles were fought, in the second of which the Pretender was defeated, and his forces completely scattered.

[273] For five months, "Prince Charlie" then lay hid in different parts of western Scotland, while a large reward was offered for his capture. Many persons must have known his whereabouts, yet so loyal were the Scottish people to "bonnie Prince Charlie" that no one came forward to claim the reward. The Prince finally succeeded in reaching a French vessel, and escaped safely to France. This was the last real attempt to restore the Stuarts to the British throne, though there are still persons in that kingdom who keep up the form of recognizing a member of the Stuart line as their sovereign. In 1748, a peace was finally made which ended the War of the Austrian Succession. Frederick the Great kept the territory which he had taken from Austria; but all other conquests, including those made by either party in America and in India, were restored. The only gain which Great Britain made by the long war was the recognition of the Hanoverian Kings by France, and the agreement of France to drive the Pretender from that country.

House of Hanover | King George I House of Hanover Father: Ernst August, Duke of Brunswick and Elector of Hanover Mother: Sophia Stuart Born: May 28, 1660 at Osnabruck, Hanover Ascended to the throne: August 1, 1714 aged 54 years Crowned: October 20, 1714 at Westminster Abbey Married: Sophia Dorothea of Celle, on 1682 Children: One son, one daughter, three illegitimate children Died: June 11, 1727 at Osnabruck, aged 67 years, and 12 days Buried at: Leineschlosskirche, Hanover He was the son of the first elector of Hanover, Ernest Augustus (1629�1698), and his wife Sophia who was a granddaughter of James I of England. He was heir through his father to the hereditary lay bishopric of Osnabr�ck and the duchy of Calenberg, which was one part of the Hanoverian possessions of the house of Brunswick.

He acquired the other part by his marriage in 1682 to his cousin Sophia Dorothea of Celle. They had two children George (who later became George II) and Sophia (who married Frederick William of Prussia in 1706 and was the mother of Frederick the Great). It was not a happy marriage. George had several mistresses, and his wife Sophia eloped with Swedish Count Philip Konigsmark who in 1694 mysteriously disappeared believed killed with George�s connivance and his body thrown in a river. Sophia was imprisoned in Castle Ahlden in Celle where she remained until she died 30 years later. In England Queen Anne had no surviving children and in 1701 Parliament passed the Act of Settlement to ensure a Protestant line of succession and oppose the claim of the Catholic James Edward Stuart. George�s mother Sophia became heiress to the British throne, but she died in May 1714 a few weeks before Queen Anne so when Anne died in August that year George became King George I of England and Scotland.

George arrived in England aged 54 speaking only a few words of English, with 18 cooks and two mistresses one very fat and the other thin and tall who became nicknamed �Elephant and Castle� after an area in London. In Hanover he was absolute ruler but in England found that he had to work with Parliament and his Whig ministers particularly Lord Townshend who was dismissed, Earl Stanhope and Robert Walpole. The king grew frustrated in his attempts to control Parliament and more and more dependent upon his advisers as scandal surrounded him; his supporters turned against him, demanding freedom of action as the price of reconciliation. George rarely attended meetings with his ministers, and particularly Walpole became powerful and effectively Britain�s first Prime Minister. Jacobite rebellions in Scotland in 1715 led by Lord Mar, and in 1719 supported by Spanish troops intending to place James Edward Stuart (�The old Pretender�) on throne found little support and were quickly defeated. The �South Sea Bubble� in which shares in companies were purchased in rash financial speculation before a stock market crash in 1720 left many investors ruined, and George was implicated in the scandal.

Walpole�s management of the crisis by rescheduling debts and paying compensation using Government money helped return financial stability. George quarrelled with his son George (a trait inherited by successive Hanoverian kings) and became increasingly unpopular. He spent more and more time in Hanover where he died of a stroke in 1727. King George I's Signature BBC - History - George I z George I © George was elector of Hanover and, from 1714, the first Hanoverian king of Great Britain. George was born on 28 Mary 1660 in Hanover, Germany, the eldest son of the Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg. In 1682, George married his cousin Sophia and they had two children. A decade later, he divorced her for alleged infidelity and imprisoned her in a castle until her death in 1726. In 1701, under the Act of Settlement, George's mother Sophia was nominated heiress to the English throne if the reigning monarch William III and his heir Anne died without issue.

The Act sought to guarantee a Protestant succession and George's mother was the closest Protestant relative, although there were at least 50 Catholic relatives whose claims were stronger. The Electress Sophia and Anne died in quick succession and George became king in August 1714. The following year George was faced with a rebellion by the Jacobites, supporters of the Catholic James Stuart, who had a strong claim to the throne. This was concentrated mainly in Scotland, and was suppressed by the end of the year. Another smaller rebellion in 1719 was not a serious threat. With some Tories sympathetic to the Jacobites, George turned to the Whigs to form a government, and they were to dominate politics for the next generation. Opposition to the king gathered around George's only son, the prince of Wales, making their already poor relationship even worse. George was active in British foreign policy in the early years of his reign. His shrewd diplomatic judgment enabled him to help forge an anti-Spanish alliance with France in 1717 - 1718. In 1720 the South Sea Company, with heavy government, royal and aristocratic investment, collapsed. The resulting economic crisis made the king and his ministers extremely unpopular.

Robert Walpole was left as the most important figure in the administration and in April 1721 was appointed first lord of the Treasury and in effect, 'prime minister'. His ascendancy coincided with the decline of the political power of the monarchy and George became less and less involved in government. George remained unpopular in England throughout his life, partly because of his inability to speak English but also because of the perceived greed of his mistresses and rumours concerning his treatment of his wife. George died on 11 June 1727 during a visit to Hanover and was succeeded by his son. George III - British History - HISTORY.com Google George III: Birth and Education The Georgian era (1714-1830) spanned the combined reigns of the five British monarchs from the Electorate of Hanover, a member state of the Holy Roman Empire. George III was the first Hanoverian king born in England rather than Germany. His parents were Frederick, prince of Wales, and Augusta of Saxe-Gotha. Did You Know?

The planet Uranus was originally named "Georgium sidus," the Georgian Star, after King George III of England, who had funded the 40-foot telescope William Herschel used in its discovery. On his father’s death in 1751, the 12-year-old George became prince of Wales. He was cared for in relative isolation by his mother and tutored by the Scottish nobleman Lord Bute. George III: Early Reign George III became king of Great Britain and Ireland in 1760 following his grandfather George II’s death. In his accession speech to Parliament, the 22-year-old monarch played down his Hanoverian connections. “Born and educated in this country,” he said, “I glory in the name of Britain.” A year after his coronation, George was married to Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the daughter of a German duke. It was a political union—the two met for the first time on their wedding day—but a fruitful one, producing 15 children.

George III worked for an expedited end to the Seven Years’ War (1756-63), taking a position that forced his influential war minister William Pitt the Elder (who wanted to broaden the conflict) to resign in 1761. The next year George appointed Lord Bute as his prime minister, the first in a quick succession of five ineffective ministers. In 1764 Prime Minister George Grenville introduced the Stamp Act as a way of raising revenue in British America. The act was fervently opposed in America, especially by the pamphleteers whose paper would be taxed. Parliament would repeal the act two years later, but mistrust persisted in the colonies. George III: The American Revolution In 1770 Lord North became prime minister, beginning a 12-year period of parliamentary stability. In 1773 he passed an act taxing tea in the colonies. The Americans complained of taxation without representation (and staged the Boston Tea Party ), but North held firm with George’s backing. The American Revolution began on April 19, 1775, with the Battles of Lexington and Concord .

The next year, the Declaration of Independence laid out the Americans’ case for freedom, portraying George III as an inflexible tyrant who had squandered his right to govern the colonies. In reality the situation was more complex: Parliamentary ministers, not the crown, were responsible for colonial policies, though George still had means of direct and indirect influence. The king was reluctant to come to terms with his army’s defeat at Yorktown in 1781. He drafted an abdication speech but in the end decided to defer to Parliament’s peace negotiations. The 1783 Treaty of Paris recognized the United States and ceded Florida to Spain. George III: Later Rule and Mental Illness At the end of 1783, Lord North’s coalition was forced out by William Pitt the Younger, who would be prime minister for more than 17 years. In 1778 George lapsed into a months-long period of violent insanity. He was restrained with a straitjacket and suffered various treatments as crisis of rule unfolded around him. He recovered the next year and reigned for the next 12 as a newly beloved monarch and symbol of stability in the era of France’s revolutionary chaos.

George’s support of England’s role in the French Revolutionary Wars of the late 1790s offered early resistance against the Napoleonic juggernaut. George suffered a second major bout of insanity in 1804 and recovered, but in 1810 he slipped into his final illness. A year later his son, the future George IV, became prince regent, giving him effective rule for the War of 1812 and Napoleon’s final defeat at Waterloo in 1815. George III died blind, deaf and mad on January 29, 1820. His illnesses may have been caused by porphyria, an inherited metabolic disorder, though a 2005 analysis of hair samples suggested arsenic poisoning (from medicines and cosmetics) as a possible cause.

Tags Hanoverians - Timeline of the Kings and Queens of England of the United Kingdom Born: 30 October 1683 at Herrenhausen, Hanover Parents: George I and Sophia Dorothea Ascended to the throne: June 11, 1727 aged 43 years Crowned: 11 October 1727 at Westminster Abbey Married: Caroline, daughter of Margrave of Brandenburg Children: Four sons and five daughters Died: 25 October 1760 at Kensington Palace Buried at: Westminster Abbey Succeeded by: his grandson George III King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1727, George preferred Germany to England, but learned to speak English, unlike his father. Interesting Fact: The last British monarch to lead troops into battle at the Battle of Dettingen against the French in 1743. 1735, George II gave Sir Rober Walpole a gift of 10 Downing Street, now the permanent London residence of the British prime minister .

1739 - Dick Turpin, highwayman, hanged at York King George III 1760 - 1820 George III, the longest-serving Hanoverian monarch, died after occupying the throne for 60 years. His eldest son served as prince regent from 1811 to 1820 when his father was declared insane. Grandson of George II Succeeded by: his son George IV King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1760. George III was the first Hanoverian monarch to be born in England. He was born on 4 June 1738 in London and was the son of Frederick Louis, Prince of Wales, and grandson of George II. He was the first monarch since Queen Anne to put British interests well before those of Hanover. George III ruled for 50 years and fathered 15 children. He suffered from recurrent fits of madness and after 1810, his son acted as regent. During his reign: Britain lost its American colonies but emerged as a leading power in Europe. Australia was colonised.

His reign was the age of some of the greatest names in English literature - Jane Austen, Byron, Shelley, Keats and Wordsworth. It was also the time of great statesmen like Pitt and Fox and great captains like Wellington and Nelson . 1769 - Captain James Cook’s first voyage to explore the Pacific. In 1773 the 'Boston Tea Party' was the first sign of the troubles that were to come in America. The American Colonies proclaimed their independence on July 4th 1776. 1775 - James Watt develops the steam engine. The 1790s saw the French Revolution. The wars with France continued until Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo in 1815. In 1801, under the Act of Union Great Britain and Ireland were united into a single nation - the United Kingdom. George was thus the first king of the new nation. 1813 - Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is published.

King George IV 1820 - 1830 George IV was deeply unpopular for his extravagant lifestyle and scandalous private life, but he was an enthusiastic supporter of the arts and his residences, particularly Carlton House and Brighton Pavilion, set new standards of taste. Age 58-67 Eldest son of George III Parents: George III and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz Born: St James's Palace, London, on 12 August 1762 Ascended to the throne: 29 January 1820 aged 57 years Crowned: 19 July 1821 at Westminster Abbey Married: Mrs Fitzherbert (English), then Caroline, daughter of Duke of Brunswick Children: One daughter,and at least two illegitimate children Died: 26 June 1830 at Windsor Castle, aged 67 years Buried at: Windsor Succeeded by: his brother William IV George became prince regent in 1811, while his father was very ill, and king in 1820. Built Brighton Pavilion. He died on 26 June 1830.

His only child, Princess Charlotte had died in childbirth in 1817, so the crown passed to George's brother who became William IV. King William IV 1830 - 1837 During his youth, William had served in the Royal Navy so he was nicknamed 'the sailor king' Age 64-71. Third son of George III. Born: 21 August 1765 at Buckingham House (now Palace) Parents: George III and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz Ascended to the throne: June 26, 1830 aged 64 years Crowned: 8 September 1831 at Westminster Abbey Married: Adelaide, daughter of Dukeof Saxe-Meinigen Children: Four none of whom survived infancy, plus several illegitimate by Dorothy Jordan Died: 20 June 1837 at Windsor Castle Buried at: Windsor Succeeded by: his niece Victoria William IV was king of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 1830. He became known as the "Sailor King" after joining the navy from just 13 years old.

His reign saw the passing of the Reform Act of 1832. During his reign England abolished slavery in the colonies in 1833. William died on 20 June 1837, without surviving children. His niece Victoria succeeded him. 1834 - Fire destroys the Palace of Westminster. 1834 - Poor Law Act is passed, creating workhouses for the poor.

1836 - Births, marriages and deaths must be registered by law 1836 - Dickens publishes Oliver Twist, drawing attention to Britain’s poor Queen Victoria 1837 - 1901 Born: 24 May 1819 at Kensington Palace Parents: Edward, Duke of Kent (son of George III) and Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld Ascended to the throne: June 20, 1837 aged 18 years Crowned: 28 June 1838 at Westminster Abbey Married: Albert, son of Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha Children: Four sons including Edward VII, and five daughters Died: 22 January 1901 at Osbourne, Isle of Wight, aged 81 years, 7 months, and 29 days Buried at: Frogmore, Windsor Succeeded by: her son Edward VII Victoria was the daughter of Edward, duke of Kent (fourth son of George III) and a niece of George IV and William lV. She married Albert of Saxe - Coburg Gotha. Ruled during the industrial revolution.

The British Empire became powerful, rich and confident. When Victoria died in 1901, after the longest reign in English history, the British Empire and British world power had reached their highest point. She had 9 children, 40 grand-children and 37 great-grandchildren, scattered all over Europe. The Hanoverians (1714-1837) | Kings and Queens | Classic History | History | Yesterday Channel Yesterday Channel > The Hanoverians (1714-1837) The Hanoverians (1714-1837) The House of Hanover were of German descent who succeeded the House of Stuart as kings of Great Britain in 1714... Tweet George I (1714 – 1727) The first Hanoverian King of England was only 52nd in line to the throne, but, thanks to the Act of Settlement, George was the nearest Protestant eligible to take the crown. Born in Germany, George was not a fluent speaker of English and chose to speak in his native language, which made him deeply unpopular with his subjects.

Although times had changed and most of Britain was now Protestant, George still had to fend off opposition from several Scottish Jacobite supporters, but any rebellion was swiftly crushed. As with the reign of Queen Anne, George’s time on the throne saw the powers of the monarchy even more greatly diminished as the modern system of government by a Cabinet developed. By the end of his reign this progressed to the point at which actual power was held by Sir Robert Walpole, Britain’s first Prime Minister. George died of a stroke during one of his many visits to his beloved Hanover and was buried in the Chapel of the Leine Schloss. George II (1727 – 1760) George II was the only son of the king and was also born in Hanover. When he ascended the throne he shared his father’s problem of having to fend off opposition from Jacobite supporters, with 1745 seeing ‘Bonnie Prince Charlie’ raise a strong army of rebellion in Scotland. This was famously crushed the following year in the notoriously bloody Battle of Culloden Moor. During George II’s later years he showed little interest in politics but he did involve Britain in the Seven Years War, which saw many European countries rise up against one another.

His reign also saw the foundation of the Industrial Revolution. After thirty-three years on the throne, he died while on the toilet and was buried at Westminster Abbey. As his eldest son Frederick had died of an abscess, the heir became the King’s grandson, also named George. George III (1760 – 1820) Despite being the third Hanovarian monarch of Britain, this King George was the first to be born in Britain and use English as his first language. During his reign, George III tried to reverse the diminished role of the monarchy in governing the country but by this point ministers were too powerful. Also during George’s reign Britain lost many of its colonies in North America, but Great Britain and Ireland were joined together to form the United Kingdom. In later years George III famously suffered from recurrent mental illness, thought to be related to the blood disease porphyria. However, recent studies have revealed high levels of arsenic in King George's hair, suggesting that the poison was also a possible cause of the King’s insanity. After a final relapse in 1811, the King's eldest son, George, Prince of Wales ruled as Prince Regent.

Upon George's death aged 81, the Prince of Wales succeeded his father as George IV. George IV (1820 – 1830) As a young man the Prince Regent earned a reputation for fine living and decadence, and he became a lavish patron of the arts. Also developing a keen interest in architecture The Prince Regent commissioned the elegant Brighton Pavilion, with no expense spared. Over time he fell out with his father and many of his subjects who had to foot the bill for his expensive lifestyle. George’s time as Regent was marked by victory in the Napoleonic Wars in Europe and the reconstruction by John Nash of Buckingham Palace as we know it today. When he finally ascended the throne as George IV he had a suitably lavish coronation extravaganza, although by this time he was obese and possibly addicted to laudanum, his life blighted by a difficult arranged marriage to his own cousin and the death of his daughter and mother. He died a bloated mess of a man, and was buried in Windsor Castle. William IV (1830 – 1837) Following the death of George IV, family deaths meant that his brother William took the throne.

During his youth, he served in the Royal Navy and as a result was nicknamed the Sailor King. Due to ascending the throne at sixty-nine, his reign was short. It was, however, one of several major reforms, including local government being democratised, child labour restricted and slavery abolished throughout the British Empire. However, the most important reform of William IV's reign was the Reform Act of 1832, which refashioned the British electoral system. He ultimately died of asthma-related illness and was succeeded by his niece, Princess Victoria of Kent. Under ancient law no woman could carry the Hanoverian crown, which went to William’s brother and so ended the Hanoverian Dynasty in Britain. BBC - History - George III z George III © George III was the third Hanoverian king of Great Britain. During his reign, Britain lost its American colonies but emerged as a leading power in Europe. He suffered from recurrent fits of madness and after 1810, his son acted as regent. George III was born on 4 June 1738 in London, son of Frederick, Prince of Wales and Augusta of Saxe-Gotha.

He became heir to the throne when his father died in 1751, succeeding his grandfather George II in 1760. He was the first Hanoverian monarch to use English as his first language. In 1761, George married Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and they enjoyed a happy marriage, with 15 children. George chose his mentor the Earl of Bute as his first chief minister. He was a poor choice, isolating George from senior politicians. Effective government became almost impossible, and George was increasingly vilified. The instability following Bute's resignation in 1763 did little to solve the crown's financial difficulties, made worse by the Seven Years' War. In 1770, George appointed Lord North as his first minister. Although an effective administrator, North's government was dominated by disagreements with the American colonists over British attempts to levy taxes on them. War began in 1775 and was prolonged in 1779, at the king's insistence, to prevent copycat protests elsewhere. The British defeat in 1781 prompted North to resign. In 1783, North and the prominent Whig politician Fox formed a coalition government.

Their plans to reform the East India Company gave George the chance to regain popularity. He forced the bill's defeat in Parliament, and the two resigned. In their place George appointed William Pitt the Younger. The combination of Pitt's skill and war with France in 1793 strengthened George's position, but disagreements over emancipation of the Catholics - Pitt was in favour and George vehemently opposed - led to Pitt's resignation in 1801. The American war, its political aftermath and family quarrels put great strain on George. After serious bouts of illness in 1788 - 1789 and 1801, thought now to be caused by porphyria, he became permanently deranged in 1810. The Prince of Wales (later George IV) became regent. George remained ill until his death at Windsor Castle on 29 January 1820. In 1801, under the Act of Union Great Britain and Ireland were united into a single nation - the United Kingdom. George was thus the first king of the new nation.

King George I | Britroyals Born: May 28, 1660 at Osnabruck, Hanover Parents: Ernst August, Duke of Brunswick and Elector of Hanover, and Sophia Stuart Relation to Elizabeth II: 6th great-grandfather House of: Hanover Ascended to the throne: August 1, 1714 aged 54 years Crowned: October 20, 1714 at Westminster Abbey Married: Sophia Dorothea of Celle Children: One son, one daughter, three illegitimate children Died: June 11, 1727 at Osnabruck, aged 67 years, and 12 days Buried at: Leineschlosskirche, Hanover Reigned for: 12 years, 10 months, and 9 days Succeeded by: his son George II He was the son of the first elector of Hanover, Ernest Augustus (1629�1698), and his wife Sophia who was a granddaughter of James I of England.

He was heir through his father to the hereditary lay bishopric of Osnabr�ck and the duchy of Calenberg, which was one part of the Hanoverian possessions of the house of Brunswick. He acquired the other part by his marriage in 1682 to his cousin Sophia Dorothea of Celle. They had two children George (who later became George II) and Sophia (who married Frederick William of Prussia in 1706 and was the mother of Frederick the Great). It was not a happy marriage. George had several mistresses, and his wife Sophia eloped with Swedish Count Philip Konigsmark who in 1694 mysteriously disappeared believed killed with George�s connivance and his body thrown in a river. Sophia was imprisoned in Castle Ahlden in Celle where she remained until she died 30 years later. In England Queen Anne had no surviving children and in 1701 Parliament passed the Act of Settlement to ensure a Protestant line of succession and oppose the claim of the Catholic James Edward Stuart.

George�s mother Sophia became heiress to the British throne, but she died in May 1714 a few weeks before Queen Anne so when Anne died in August that year George became King George I of England and Scotland. George arrived in England aged 54 speaking only a few words of English, with 18 cooks and two mistresses one very fat and the other thin and tall who became nicknamed �Elephant and Castle� after an area in London. In Hanover he was absolute ruler but in England found that he had to work with Parliament and his Whig ministers particularly Lord Townshend who was dismissed, Earl Stanhope and Robert Walpole. The king grew frustrated in his attempts to control Parliament and more and more dependent upon his advisers as scandal surrounded him; his supporters turned against him, demanding freedom of action as the price of reconciliation. George rarely attended meetings with his ministers, and particularly Walpole became powerful and effectively Britain�s first Prime Minister. Jacobite rebellions in Scotland in 1715 led by Lord Mar, and in 1719 supported by Spanish troops intending to place James Edward Stuart (�The old Pretender�) on throne found little support and were quickly defeated.

The �South Sea Bubble� in which shares in companies were purchased in rash financial speculation before a stock market crash in 1720 left many investors ruined, and George was implicated in the scandal. Walpole�s management of the crisis by rescheduling debts and paying compensation using Government money helped return financial stability. George quarrelled with his son George (a trait inherited by successive Hanoverian kings) and became increasingly unpopular. He spent more and more time in Hanover where he died of a stroke in 1727. King George I's Signature

Question: Who was the first Hanoverian king?
Answer: George I